Crashing Catholic church services? Someone didn’t get to the New Testament bit yet.

That’s the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw this item about newly converted Protestants (and ex-Muslim’s no less) crashing Catholic Church services in the US. Well, actually, the first thought was is this a fake story so I had a search and it appears genuine.

If this is dinkum then a world of questions opens up and a few observations get confirmed too.

Let’s start with an observation. Unfortunately when folk “see the light” or get “born again”, the new frame of mind seems to come with a feeling of guilt for not having become more religious earlier. That somehow they have let their God down and that they have to get a few runs on the board to “prove” themselves in his/hers/its eyes.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, that often means evangelising their new truth to a generally uncaring Public, or in a worse case scenario, strapping on a bomb belt and getting a fast track to meeting their Maker. Neither is pretty but at least option one is generally not fatal.

Secondly, there is an impatience to get up and running before their studies are complete assuming they are going to be living a life based on the Bible. Most folk start a book at page one and in the case of the Bible, it’s a hell of a long read from Genesis until you get to the amendments published under the moniker of the New Testament. Not surprisingly a lot of Fundamentalists never make it to the more realistic, and dare I say ethical, revisions and if they do they are a long way past forming an opinion, so the eye for an eye rules their view.

That’s unfortunate but hardly surprising considering which end of the IQ scale most of their members reside in. Unless they start with the New Testament then holding those ideas before forming an opinion is simply too difficult. And that works well for any charlatans who are looking for a healthy meal ticket and are untroubled by ethics themselves.

Clearly the clowns in this video haven’t made it to the newer text. Especially the bit about “Love thy neighbour”’. I’m guessing they haven’t put much study into how their religion was formed either. Protestantism is a direct offshoot of Catholicism so rather than the Catholics worshiping false idols, it’s more a subject of minor differences in how they celebrate the same God.

If they are an offshoot of the Anglicans then they are probably better off not knowing. Basing a revised religion on the whims of a randy Henry the Eighth is hardly likely to be a religion based on new insights or higher standards.

One thing that did surprise me though was an item I read from a Catholic web site that claimed police were unable to do anything about these disruptive folk. I don’t have experience of US Law but in Oz, if you are asked to remove yourself from the area and fail to do so, the Police will assist you to leave the premises. In the back of a divvy van if necessary.

Considering how the US is currently suffering from Christian terrorists shooting up non-white congregations, I’d be inclined to nip this sort of hooliganism in the bud. All it needs is one mentally deranged individual to turn up with a gun and it’s potentially “game on” in a society that encourages gun ownership and minimal, if any, background checks in some states.

4 thoughts on “Crashing Catholic church services? Someone didn’t get to the New Testament bit yet.”

Do not be deceived into thinking the religious only have low IQ’s , many members of ISIS have high IQ’s.
Education is no protection against radicalisation or anything else for that matter.
It is a mind-set which puts belief above everthing else , so humanity goes out of the window.
The human mind is very vunerable to mind-sets. The gambler who puts winning above everything else; wife, children, friends, honest dealings ect.
It can be triggered in anyone none of us are immune. Even habit can turn into addiction .
I try to keep a close eye on myself luckily I have those around me to to gauge myself against.

I agree it’s not the only market for radicalism. I was appalled to see tertiary educated kids signing up for ISIS. That was a real confidence shaker that caused me a lot of soul searching and I’m still thinking it through.

Agree on our tricky brains too. Always worth keeping an eye on myself and the missus runs backup in case I drop the ball. 😉

Its when the mind gets track and is one of the dangers of religion.
I’m retired on the south coast of England aged 74. We had four children and active varied lives.
One of the best defences is to spread your interests dont allow fixation.

I do think that some besotted by the Bible seem not to read too widely, of course not all of them, but those that limit their reading miss so much interesting stuff in the world.

It always causes me to raise an eyebrow when I hear the claim that non-belief in God is somehow less magical. I reckon it’s quite the opposite.

By the way thanks for your contribution. I should tone down the IQ bit. Once upon a time I started using the term “sheeple” but it’s very disrespectful too, and thankfully another blogger pulled me up on it.